


Norm of Reciprocity

by SunBox



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, BOTH, Crimes & Criminals, Detective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Developing Relationship, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Eren Loves Levi, Eren is in Denial, German Eren Yeager, Heartbreak, Humor, Investigations, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) Swears, Levi Is Bad At Feelings, Levi Loves Eren, Levi/Eren Yeager Fluff, Levi/Eren Yeager Smut, Levi/Eren Yeager-centric, Lots of randomness from Eren to come, Lots of violence :), M/M, Mikasa Ackerman & Levi Are Related, Religious Eren Yeager, Sometimes I Will Not Bother To Translate Because It Is Funnier That Way, Waiter Eren Yeager, Yaoi, Zeke is... well, character spoil, ereri, riren - Freeform, snk, something, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-19
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-04 03:48:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11546868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunBox/pseuds/SunBox
Summary: Eren was a normal kid with a normal childhood, a sick mother, and a father he never really knew. He had his goals set and was attending a well-known law school when his life suddenly turned upside down. His father had apparently researched illegal things no one ever bothered to explain before he had been found dead in his own laboratory and without the supposed experiments. So Eren had to return. His life that had been harsh, but perfect, was falling apart once he got home, going from a highly-ranked law student to a mere guy with multiple jobs to bring food to the table and having to take care for his mother whose health was deteriorating. Ever since then, things were... normal. Plain.One year later, when Eren thought it was finally over, a group of people decided to turn up in the coffee shop he worked at. And one raven-haired detective thought it would be a good idea to hire him to be his assistent in the search of the very crime Eren had tried to forget. And Eren, feeling wrapped around his little finger, couldn't really say 'no'.





	1. Libertas

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome. Have a seat. I can assure you that you'll have some good laughs, wth moments, bitter heartbreak and downright questioning why you even went to read this with me.

“Did you see that tall guy in the trench coat there? Yeah, the blond one“, Jean pointed at a table in the far right corner of the small coffee shop. Eren's eyes followed the way he pointed, but when Eren just looked back at Jean with no interest whatsoever, Jean heavily sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, „Wait. Don't tell. You don't know him.”

Eren shrugged his shoulders and bended over, continuing to wipe the sleek black table the previous guests had just abandoned. How could people miss the ashtray that stands in the middle of a small table? As usual, he had his angry and annoyed expression on his face, wondering why he didn’t take up a job that wasn’t as normal as this one was. It was the simplicity of the system, how easily understandable and manageable everything was as a contrast to his harsh studies, and how people _still_ managed to make his life hell. How would they feel to wake up at six a.m. in the morning, rush to the other end of the town only to clean, take orders, clean, deliver orders, clean, take payments, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean, clean...

“Should I?” Eren replied with a sneer as he passed the rag in his hand over the smooth black surface one more time before stuffing the rag back into the back pocket of his jeans and putting his hands at his hips, turning around to face his horse-faced friend who didn’t even bother wearing his apron, as usual. Eren didn’t even think of telling him to wear it again; he would never listen.

“Well, as your friend I expect some things of you, you know. Like… I don’t know… Recognize the world’s most popular detective?!” Jean shouted and Eren replied with a blink of his eyes before walking up to the counter and propping against it, eyeing his coworker playfully.

“Most popular? You sure? I thought that one was Mr. Sherlock, but I guess I might have been wrong ‘bout that…”

“Eren. I’m tired of your shit. What is it with you the last couple of days anyways? You’ve been acting out of character lately, and I don’t care, but it’s freaking making me want to punch your stupid face in front of everybody”, Jean scoffed before crossing his arms over his chest and looking at him from the side, “But I know I can’t do that since I’d get my ass kicked out.”

Eren opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead, he spent a minute in silence, looking at the table that Jean pointed out. Just like Jean said, there was a tall blonde man sitting at one side of the table, his long beige trench coat almost reaching the floor. He had gloves on and gestured a lot, probably explaining something to the other three people that sat across him. The man in the middle had a deep tan and a frown on his face that threatened to tear it in half. He had two deep wrinkles on his face, visible even from Eren’s standpoint, and small eyes that were almost covered by his bushy eyebrows drooping constantly. He sat perfectly straight, as if he didn’t know how to behave in a coffee shop where people were supposed to relax a bit, which earned him a few glances here and there. To his right was a young black-haired man whose bangs were parted in the middle. His somewhat pale face was full of tiny freckles that made him seem very young. To his left was a black-haired girl whose face was incredibly pale. Her big, beautiful black eyes were piercing right through the detective and she looked like she would kill him if she got the chance to, but Eren hoped that wouldn’t be the case. He’d have to mop all over again if that were to happen.

The three of them all wore brown trench coats. They would constantly look between the detective and another raven-haired person who was so short in comparison to the tall blond that it seemed ridiculous. Unlike everyone else however, the raven had his legs crossed under the table, an arm over the back of the gray chair and he was sprawled out like he was trying to find a comfortable position to sleep at. His dark brown trench coat that had small belts on the ends of its sleeves for decorative purposes was put on another free chair, folded neatly. The raven sat close to the blond, his arm almost touching the detective’s shoulder. His hand was small.

“How long have they been sitting here?” Eren asked when he turned to face Jean again. The man bit his lower lip and looked away, scratching the back of his head.

“Well… uh… at least fifteen minutes…”

“FIFTEEN-“ Eren calmed down before he’d get in the limelight, “Fifteen minutes? Those are people that are probably important for society and you left them waiting for fifteen minutes?”

“Well, what was I supposed to do?” Jean defended, “You know I’m a mess when I speak to people I like…”

“Like?”

“Yeah, like, Eren. Like as in, I’ve got a crush on the majority of the people on the table over there”, Jean said and averted his gaze from Eren’s when he saw a mocking smile emerging on the brunet’s face, “At least I wasn’t cleaning like a goddamn maid like you were, completely absorbed into the mess instead of taking orders of money providers. I worked my ass off while you danced around the café, you bastard!”

Eren just growled as he realized there was no point in fighting with Jean. He couldn’t grip his shirt, lift him up and punch his face to shut him up as people were around and he didn’t want to get into trouble. He meandered to the other side of the counter to grab a tray before trudging toward the table in question. Before reaching it, his footsteps steadied and he tried to mask the annoyance on his face, but knew the smile wouldn’t help since his eyes burned with the desire to punch someone in the throat. Jean. Punch Jean in the throat.

Once he found himself staring down at the group of people, his mind somehow managed to go empty. Luckily, no one noticed as Eren just awkwardly stood around with the tray in his right hand and a small note in his left. He suddenly realized he didn’t even need to carry those items around, but just turning around now and walking off would seem rather unprofessional.

“Yes, he is by far the most loyal assistant anyone could have, sir. Very smart too and capable of taking initiative whenever it is needed. Ackerman isn’t the one to really listen a lot, but she is our best when it comes to combat skills and quick resolve-“

“I know, I know…” the short man replied and rolled his eyes from the right all the way to the left to look directly into the major detective’s eyes, the one leg on top of the other bouncing a bit.

“Listen, I know you want to do this on your own, but you have to choose one of them. It will be a lot easier to organize things and to track people down… I’m not saying you wouldn’t be able to handle it on your own, but I know you too well to let you do it on your own. I know you won’t rest at all until the thief has been caught, which means sleepless nights, inability to stand, going around buying stuff you’ll never need, collecting all information about various suspects via the internet or… other measures…” the detective’s eyes suddenly narrowed and the shorter man clicked his tongue.

Eren stood there as if someone cemented his legs to the floor and now he couldn’t move away. Those people clearly weren’t here to order something, but why would they discuss such important matters inside a mere café shop? The town’s smallest, but coziest, on top of that? People loved the place because of its interior and atmosphere which made the place thriving, so why here? Eren frowned in determination, making the questions disperse before they would take over his whole being.

_“Um… Your order? No, wait. Excuse me. We are sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. Our horse shit itself and couldn’t take your order… Nope. Good day- …no. Morning, sirs. And… Good morning, people of the world!_ _Argh. Die wichtigste Mahlzeit am ganzen Tag. Und ich serviere‘s so wie der Detektiv es mag._ _“_

“Erwin. Finding who stole it won’t be such a problem, trust me. I’ve already got a suspect”, the short man softly said, his voice soothing, calming and welcoming, and Eren stopped his struggles as he finally mustered the courage to move closer to the table to at least see the faces that were on it before taking their order, but froze in place when the raven’s eyes met his in a heartbeat. The eyes of that man were neither soothing nor calming, and even less welcoming. In fact, they looked like they contained a storm that was ready to rage at Eren for some reason. He was rather pale and his facial features were sharp, making the man look intimidating despite his size. His jaw was strong, his lips colorless but plump and his black hair looked like it was as soft as a kitten’s fur. His thin eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were parted in a frown as he didn’t remove his sight from the waiter. Eren’s sight got stuck on the man’s small nose and he found himself unable to look away.

“I-um… I… I’m…” it took him all the power he had not to burst into laughter and awkwardly crawl back to his counter to hide under it, desperately waiting for the end of his shift.

“Tch”, the raven responded and averted his gaze towards the restroom.

The next few seconds were spent in awkward silence with tension rising between every single person close to the table, even to the poor guests that were sitting around them and looking back. Eren was pretty sure he was sweating up a storm, but he couldn’t really tell since the thick tension made him forget what he was and who he was. He wished that Jean wouldn’t have told him that those people were important; maybe he wouldn’t be acting completely out of place if that were the case. And to top it all off, that stupid and annoying short cartoon song was still in his brain, looping over and over with no sign of stopping.

“I’m… sorry for detective Ackerman’s behavior…” the lead detective said and Eren looked at his soft, smiling face, “He is always this way, don’t worry about it”, Levi rolled his eyes that stopped at Eren's again, so the boy tensed up completely, “You must know who we are though if you are so nervous around us. Don’t worry, we’re still people.”

“Ah”, Eren responded and looked to the sky blue eyes of the lead detective, but his eyes met the short man’s immediately after, catching his intent stare and returning it as he felt obligated to. He couldn’t tell them that he had no idea who and what they were except from detectives, maybe; otherwise they would consider him an awkward, undisciplined, talentless eavesdropper. That wouldn’t be far from the truth, though. He awkwardly fiddled with his black apron when he finally decided to drop his sight to the black wooden floor beneath him. Jean was probably recording in the back and Eren couldn’t move or think. There go his talents, out of the open white windows to escape his numb brain, all the knowledge he fought to get to succeed in life gone in an instant. Not a single coherent sentence formed in his head and he felt a lump form in his throat, threatening to suffocate him.

“You’re just gonna stand around and neglected your only job? Our orders, brat”, the short man that still looked up to his face said and Eren shook his head as if the action was needed for him to function normally again.

“Your orders!” Eren yelled while pressing the tray to his chest and he could hear Jean laughing his ass off in the back, but his gaze remained at the white walls decorated with a few crimson red squares painted on it. Those squares were his idea and he would be proud forever. After they all just stared at him for a little while, Eren felt relieved when detective Erwin decided to be the first one to order.

“Black coffee for me, please”, he said, and everybody else just joined in by ordering the same kind of coffee since they probably weren’t even expecting anyone to take their orders anymore.

“Black tea.”

Everyone, except for detective Ackerman, who must have been waiting for his order ever since he came in.

Eren shot them a small smile before rushing back to the counter, almost knocking every plate and cup down and slamming the tray into Jean’s hands who was still laughing while pressing his palm against his forehead. Eren propped himself against the counter and stared into the shining reddish-brown surface of it, looking at his shaking hands and wondering why he was feeling so anxious all of a sudden. It was as if the short, and rather attractive, detective saw something about him, as if he _knew_ something. And that thought was scaring Eren, although it shouldn’t really. But the way he stared made the impression of a person _suspecting_ something. Was he suspected? Why, though? He didn’t have anything to do with the stealing of the illegal experiments his father had left behind, and had even less involvement in the murder of his father. He didn’t even realize he was hyperventilating by the time Jean suddenly put a tray of four coffees and one black tea in front of him. Eren’s widely opened eyes met his over the counter and he stopped immediately.

“You ok, man?” Jean asked, and Eren honestly believed he cared for once, but then that stupid, smug grin appeared on his face once again and that thought was sent flying out of the window to chase after Eren’s talents as well, “You were staring at that midget like you’ve seen an angel. Jealous ‘cause you weren’t there to catch him when he fell from heaven?”

The shorter waiter shot him a glare that told Jean he needed to back off now if he wanted to live, so Jean did as he was gestured to. After a few seconds, the brunet sighed and looked at the ground while picking up the tray of liquids in white mugs with the logo of the small coffee shop displayed on it- a red and a white wing, intertwined. It was a logo that Eren hated for no reason whatsoever and would go on and on about how stupid it looked and how inartistic someone must have been for making such a logo. Well, at least the name _Libertas_ wasn’t as stupid.

“They were talking about the… ‘projects’ my dad made…” Eren silently said and Jean’s grin faded in an instant, “…those… things were stolen, it seems, and detective… Ackerman, was it? Has been charged with being the lead investigator. The three people across them must be capable detectives or assistants, considering the tall, bald man is trying to get them to work with the investigator”, Eren forced the lump in his throat to go down as his wide eyes refused to leave the wood, “and it seems as if they have a suspect, but… I’ve been wondering why they’re here out of all places to discuss such an important issue. They know who the man who did those ‘projects’ was. And who could have stolen such sick projects? Someone who didn’t want his work to be left unfinished, right…?”

Jean noticed Eren’s creepy, smirking expression with widely opened eyes, so he decided to jump in before his coworker went insane.

“Cut the crap”, he spat, “detective Smith’s looking into your direction.”

Eren stopped talking as he took a deep breath and hurriedly approached the table occupied by the group of investigators, smiling as he met the lead detective’s eyes. He tried to look as calm as possible, but he knew his trembling body wouldn’t be left unnoticed. The cup of tea was placed down first, slowly and carefully, as if trying not to upset the obviously easily irritable man. He then straightened again and rotated the lead detective’s mug before stepping closer to bend down, but he made the motion incredibly slow because he felt the short man’s stare on him again, piercing right through him.

“So, detective Levi. Who will it be? Miss Ackerman, or young Bott?”

_“Levi… That’s a nice name. Levi. The way your tongue motions when saying that name…’s funny.”_

Eren looked over at the two young people, one soon-to-be assistant of the grumpy investigator with a nice name, and smiled into their direction widely as he carefully put the cups of black coffee in front of them. He was thanked by a slight nod from the girl and a huge smile from the freckled boy. Eren’s smile widened.

“Don’t butt in, Shadis. I have already decided whom I’ll make my assistant.”

“Oh”, Shadis articulated before finally moving from his stiff position to prop his elbows against the table, leaning closer to the man and disabling Eren from the ability to put the cup of coffee in front of him, so he decided to wait until the man moved, nervously looking between the two men.

“In fact, I’ve made my decision in an instant, as soon as I stepped into this coffee shop”, he added and Shadis looked confused for a moment before looking up at the waiter who was awkwardly smiling at him, scratching the back of his head with his free hand while holding the tray up with the other. The strict-looking and scary man straightened in his chair again and Eren stepped closer to the table again to position himself before putting the mug down, feeling the intense stare from his side again, “it’s just a feeling I get. You know I function on instincts.”

“Levi, what are you…?” Erwin tried to hold the man back, but knew it was already too late once he saw Shadis’ strict and scornful expression on his wrinkled face.

“ _Animals_ function on instincts, inspector. We, as human beings, are supposed to think of the situation before making rash decisions, especially if we are in such complicated and important places. You cannot possibly mean everything you accomplished was just based on instincts, right?”

Eren had already put the cup down and was now standing next to the table, listening to the conversation that was unfolding itself in front of him. He ignored the warning glares the young woman shot into his direction.

“I’m not saying such a thing”, Levi silently responded, leaning against the table as well, slowly and provocatively intertwining his fingers as he propped against the table, “What I am saying is that I don’t need your help in finding out which assistant to choose. When I see someone’s expression, I can immediately tell what kind of person they are. The key to that is looking into their eyes”, Levi finished and leaned back into his chair, putting his boney fingers on the top of the mug and rising it up, stirring it a little as he stared into the inside of it. Eren thought of it as a funny way of holding a cup, but what ultimately made him hold back a laugh was the wrinkled man’s expression after hearing those words from the short man across the table. Shadis leaned forward again, but this time he directed his eyes towards the lead detective, making Erwin do the same. They engaged in some kind of conversation about the short man still looking into the inside of the cup, but Eren couldn’t see anything nor hear anything when he felt the raven’s thigh gently brush against the side of his left leg. He froze up and could feel immediate heat rushing up his body to reach his cheeks and he just hoped he wasn’t blushing. He warily looked down to meet the man’s glassy, narrowed eyes still gazing into his as his thigh passed over the same spot once again, his dull blue eyes not parting from Eren’s vivid teal ones. Eren’s lower lip trembled and he wanted to say something, ask if the detective needed anything, but he found himself unable to say anything and just made a high-pitched sound, immediately looking down in embarrassment and promising himself that he’d hit himself as hard as possible as soon as he’d be alone. He suddenly felt a soft hand brush against his and he opened his sweaty palm just enough to let the older man squeeze the needed money into his hand. Eren’s eyesight trailed back to the man’s and the investigator gave him an amused look as he stood up and squeezed himself through the table and the waiter instead of walking around, leaving the poor brunet just standing there, watching the raven’s smooth movements as he headed for the restroom, his skin still burning at the parts where their clothed body parts brushed against each other’s. Jean’s statement from before once again had a huge impact on him, it seemed. His heart was hammering against his chest.

_“Screw my gay ass.”_

Without even looking at anyone else or checking if the raven gave him the correct amount of money, he dragged his feet back towards the counter, staring at his shaking palm that held the money. It couldn’t have been suggestive, could it? Eren had never experienced someone flirting with him in that way, or in any way that didn’t involve random statements from random people, so he couldn’t know. He just knew that he felt as if his knees would give in at any moment and he’d flop down to meet the clean floor, refusing to stand up because, heck, he felt as if he was in purgatory, with something beautiful stirring in his heart while he was experiencing great pain at the same time. He forced his shaking hand open, realizing that there wasn’t only money in his palm. There was a small, white note that said: ‘restroom’, in a small and neatly written font.

Eren immediately dropped the tray and turned on his heel to rush past the tables to get there, not thinking about the consequences this could possibly have. But hell, he wanted to spend more time looking at his small, sharp features and his strict eyes boring through him.

_“Please screw me.”_

The small adrenaline rush that crawled up his spine the moment before he shot open the door almost had him stop, but he had already decided. Being thrown into a completely new situation was something that would always excite him, no matter if it was good or bad, harmless or dangerous. The best part of it would always be the fact that he’d never know whether it was good or bad, and once there, he couldn’t escape anymore. The thought of his smart head being so dumb at the same time was his pride. But once he entered, he realized that no one was there. He stared at the picture of himself in front of the mirror, seeing his own terribilita, a look that managed to get him scared for the wellbeing of others again and again. Slowly stepping into it, he watched the white door in the back close in the mirror before frowning.

Eren sighed and slowly walked towards the mirror, staring at the few dots that were in the far corners of his high forehead, gently touching them before turning the faucet on and cupping his hands to furiously throw water over his burning face to cool down a bit. The anxiety was still there, but so was the obvious attraction he felt for that random person he had just seen for the first time in his life. He growled in frustration and buried his face in the cool liquid resting in his palms again, closing his eyes and shaking his head. The waiter snorted and blinked multiple times to get the water out of his eyes, looking back into the huge mirror that displayed his image. He managed to get his bangs soaked and those were now stuck to his forehead; water was slowly dripping from his forehead towards his lips before sliding down his chin and his blue-green irises protruding through a pinkish background. It wasn’t the only thing he saw when looking in the mirror, though. Except from him and the white wall with crimson marble tiles that stopped in the middle of the wall to form a contrast, there was a man leaning against the wall, staring directly into his eyes that were reflected in the mirror, and Eren’s gaze met with his again. He slowly turned around, feeling his senses numb as the intimidating man pushed himself from the wall with graceful ease, stepping a few steps closer. The detective’s eyesight trailed down Eren’s appearance for a brief moment before slightly cocking his head to the side.

“You.”

“M-me?” Eren responded, even though he knew detective Ackerman didn’t need his response. Especially not since it made him seem even more stupid, which was a technique of unknown purpose Eren had developed over the time and couldn’t get rid of.

“Do you see anyone else around”, Levi uttered, but his eyes went from one side of the room to the other anyways, as if he wasn’t so sure about them being alone anymore. When he saw that, in fact, they were the only ones in the restroom, he narrowed his eyes at Eren again who only then decided to shake his head. The detective heavily sighed and crept closer, Eren watching every single movement of his. He stopped right in front of him and had to look up to meet his eyes now, Eren nervously staring down with his lips stretching out in nervousness.

“I want you”, the man indifferently stated and Eren could feel heat in his face again that started battling with the cool he had applied before. What? That escalated way too quickly. Should he say something? No, that would probably scare the man away and make him change his mind. Wait, why was he okay with this again? He opened his mouth, but the next words he heard didn’t come from him, “Don’t act so surprised. You can put two and two together, am I right? You’ve seen my gaze and overheard our talk about me having to get an assistant, and you heard the way I said I immediately knew whom I’d give the honor to.”

“What…?” Eren’s question came out like a plea for the detective to explain even further. All the sexual tension suddenly dispersed and what was left of Eren’s feelings was a charred pile of completely unnecessary thoughts.

“Thing is, my cousin ain’t gonna do shit until a conflict of some sort where she’ll unnecessary charge ahead and get herself hurt and Bott is too loyal and will sell me out to the Government as soon as I take an approach that isn’t in the tune with the rules. Also, I don’t want to have an assistant that would actually try to help me with the investigation, I just need someone to do some paperwork and make some tea. …You do know how to make tea, right?” the raven asked and started towards the confused waiter and reached out a hand towards him, but he passed his gloved fingers over the furnishing behind him, slowly walking to the left to take in the dirt that no one bothered to clean. His movements were slow, painfully so, and the way his hair fell back when he looked at the man that was staring at him had Eren’s head spinning.

Once the detective’s eyes narrowed, Eren snapped out of his trance to loudly answer: “Yes! Of course!” he went silent for a while before his brows furrowed and he looked down to look at his old, torn red sneakers, “But… why me…? It’s not as if a lowly waiter could do something for a country, right…? I mean, there’s smart people out there. Like, really smart. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to change things up, but…”

Levi’s head tilted to the other side as his eyes trailed down Eren’s appearance again.

“He was your old man, wasn’t he?”

Eren didn’t respond. He knew it was obvious since the name Yeager was rare and since the detectives must have dug pretty deep into important info of his father to localize him at the first place. He suddenly remembered the day his mom called him on the phone while he was in the middle of class and he was furious because he had told her multiple times _never_ to call him in that time of day, but when he heard her desperate voice, explaining that detectives were searching for his father because he had committed a crime Eren refused to believe was possible to commit, he broke down. Ever since then her state had been deteriorating and he had to quit college to come back to his ill mother and take care of her. He could still remember the restless nights when he heard his mother sob silently.

“Listen, I won’t go into family matters. I’m not that shallow”, he said and Eren quickly looked at him again, a sign of fury in his eyes that made the raven stop for a moment, “You’ve been studying… law before coming back home, if I’m correct?”

Eren’s lips parted and he stared for a while before nodding.

“…Interesting. How such an individual ends up in a low pit like this, isn’t it…? While others don’t do jack shit with their lives and end up on the highest of positions, no?” the detective purred and stepped back to put his hands on his hips, rolling them a bit, much to Eren’s annoyance, “And if I’m correct, you came because you have someone at home who really needs your help at the moment. And you try to provide help with the money you earn in this godforsaken coffee shop, but it’s draining all your power and will and you’re struggling to survive with the money you earn and can’t even buy a new pair of shoes.”

Eren’s eyebrows furrowed as all the tension and confusion disappeared, the words of the short man fueling him with fiery anger. He stepped closer again, his shoulders raised and his back arched as he slowly approached the detective who, much to his surprise, didn’t even think of backing off. On the contrary, Eren realized he was waiting for exactly this kind of response; he knew right from the start that this dog was just bark, and no bite. He calmed down and looked at the floor again.

“Hmmm… yes”, the raven hummed as his eyes half-closed, which caused the younger man to freeze at the spot again, the same familiar heat assaulting his heart from all sides, “I knew I wasn’t mistaken when I had decided to pick you. Made your mind up yet…?”

How dare this man come into his life and all of a sudden make him question all of his life choices, and then wanting Eren to follow him around like some kind of trained dog he could kick whenever Eren did something wrong. If he’d go after him, the detective was _bound_ to try to do something with Eren’s knowledge, and Eren knew he shouldn’t accept, no matter how much he needed more money. No. No, he wasn’t going to accept.

“I’ll think about it”, Eren whispered as he looked at his clenched fists, furrowing his eyebrows. He heard another hum of approval from the raven before he was gone again, leaving Eren alone in the dark as he turned the light switch off, obviously to mock him even further. But Eren couldn’t manage to be angry; he was just offered a position that could perhaps save his and his mother’s life. But what price would he have to pay if he’d take the job? Things didn’t just work out like that in real life, and the norm of reciprocity won’t work in his position.


	2. Survey Core

It had been four days since that strange meeting had occurred, and truth be told, Eren still didn’t know whether declining the job offer would be the correct choice of action. He never liked being at the mercy of someone and hated being pitied, but what also hindered him from taking the job was the fact that the inspector knew more about him than he himself, probably, and that thought itself was scaring him. How to work for a man who knows all your weaknesses? Who knows how to get you to do something whenever an action is needed? Who knows how to threaten you when you don’t comply? Who knows whom to attack if-

_“Okay, maybe I’m stretching it a bit. He wouldn’t do that... Right?”_

The twenty four year old heavily sighed and flopped back into his big pillow, not bothering to cover his body with his sheets and frowning when he felt the small bed shift and produce that screeching sound that he hated so much. It had been four days. And he still had no clue what to do. He would take extra shifts and stay at work for the entire day, hoping the short raven would come back, as if Eren would magically be able to make a decision as soon as he’d see his eyes. But the detective was nowhere to be found, and Eren was worried he might have missed that one opportunity he got. But even if it were the case, Eren was still too stubborn to let that man go. He wasn’t even sure why, considering he was leaning to the side of refusing his offer.

He stared at the white ceiling three feet above him, shuffling from one side of the bed to the other, trying to get that day out of his mind already. He spent too much time just thinking about the event over and over again, and had too many dreams of that small man waltzing right towards the counter of his coffee shop. That was it. No interaction, no nothing. He just saw his dull, almost inanimate eyes, and his mouth opening, but never actually heard his voice because, frankly, Eren had forgotten it already. Was that fate trying to get his snoozing brain to work again or were those thoughts just things he made up to rationalize the feelings of anxiety and longing that brewed in him that moment? It didn’t really matter; he was screwed whatever the case. His clumsiness had doubled and he didn’t even have time for his mother anymore that needed him more than anything at the moment. He couldn’t get his mind to work properly. What was he even doing?

Why didn’t detective Levi just come and beg on his knees already? Did he give up on him? Did he know Eren would have such a hard time deciding and thought he’d come weeks later? Or did he want for Eren to come back to him, crawling on all fours like the dog he was probably going to be treated as if he’d choose to go with him anyways?

He growled in frustration and sat up again, making the small old bed squeak and tremble. He stared at his palms for a while, looking at all the different lines that were illuminated by the light that came from the small window right above him before stretching and scratching the back of his head, messing with his unruly locks in the process. He then suddenly remembered why he woke up at the first place. He stared at the small clock on his nightstand as it displayed the time. 7:32.

He was 32 minutes too late already.

Still, he refused to leave his bed as he slowly reached for the clock and looked at it in disbelief. Was Levi at the shop in those 32 minutes that passed? Is he waiting for him right now? Maybe Eren thought too much. The brunet spent a few more seconds on just staring at the clock needles before his hand started trembling, his brows furrowing and his shining eyes narrowing.

 “GODDAMMIT!” Eren loudly stated and leaped from his bed, not really bothering to make it and just throwing the cover on top of it. He rushed to the other side of the room, grabbing his crimson red button-up shirt and throwing it on top of himself before grabbing his keys and money and rushing down the stairs towards the bathroom, but decided against it halfway and just continued descending the stairs, brushing a hand through his hair and standing on his tiptoes as he approached the living room, knowing his mother would be sleeping on the couch there, as she would always do. Eren stopped his breathing for a while when he saw his mother’s skinny, pale figure that had a blanket covering the lower part of her face.

Every time he’d see her like that he’d do that.

His eyesight shot towards her bare feet that displayed tiny red spots and swellings, but he quickly averted his gaze back to her closed eyes. Watching her sleep peacefully was a rare sight, but he appreciated every second of her not being awake. He had enough of those sleepless nights just thinking about his mother that couldn’t sleep a wink just because of fearing that…

He tiptoed towards her to watch her breathe in heavily and exhale shakily, showing the gentlest of smiles before quickly placing a gentle peck on her crown and silently jogging away from her towards the small wooden hallway that had five pairs of shoes lying next to each other: his old crimson sneakers and combat boots and his mother’s pink, fluffy slippers, brown boots and relatively new white trainers. He leaned against the wall and clumsily put his sneakers on before storming out onto the familiar street, returning a few seconds later to lock the big wooden door rather hastily. Eren then stuffed everything into his pockets and jogged through the long street, greeting a few familiar faces that just replied to him with a confused stare. Eren didn’t mind. He wasn’t really popular around so it was no wonder nobody recognized him. Despite his fast running, Eren knew he’d arrive at his job an hour too late, and he could already imagine his boss starting a _really_ random argument again.

The day was as beautiful as every other sunny day was; it wasn’t special at all. The slight breeze was playing with his messy locks, the sunlight shining into his eyes and momentarily blinding him, the few kids in the neighborhood screaming over a game and some dogs barking as a fast figure would just pass by them. As he ran down the street, almost getting hit by a bicycle and jumping over a fence on which a small note that said: ‘PLEASE DON’T STEP ON THE GRASS’ was, he realized this day was going to be the same as every other day, and there was no detective eagerly awaiting him. But it was his stupid determination that kept him going forward, only to be faced with disappointment again and again, or in this case, be faced with a tree that found itself on his path.

* * *

Every time Eren would set foot into his boss’ office, he’d freeze up completely. The first thing he would notice was the big picture of people getting stabbed into their chests from some kind of winged creatures that Eren wasn’t sure if those were angels or not. The picture was disgustingly pastel-colored, with fading features and sickly pale shades mixing with dust and grease, and was thus a complete contrast to the utterly black wall that seemed like it had no end since his boss would never move the blinds, only when he’d spy on someone from the inside, so the place had little to no light. The room was rather big and whenever Eren would enter it, he would see one new detail to it. Today, he saw the room had a cozy dark brown couch in the far corner of the room that was facing a small plasma TV. The floor was tiled with dark brown marble tiles, and in the middle of the room there was a small black carpet that prevented the huge redwood desk from scratching the marble. The desk was obviously very old since it had scratches, dust and dents on it and it was rather sticky to the touch. The room smelt of a weird mixture of air fresheners, socks and strong coffee, making him sick time and time again; but he couldn’t really say he was surprised. He had known that smell for years, after all, and it wasn’t just the scent of the room – he wished it was. The ceiling was gray and there were a few tiny holes in it, probably from his boss throwing sharp objects at it. Or pencils, rather. There was a silver laptop in the middle of the desk, pulled towards the man that sat in a big black office revolving chair, and a small cactus next to the laptop. Across from Eren, there was the rather burly man who had his hands clasped together and pressed to the table as he faced the worried young man. His face was deadly serious, with a big frown and bushy eyebrows furrowed, with his expressive eyes being glassy. He wasn’t the type of man who would put on professional clothing on for a meeting; he was sitting in his office with his plain trousers, a white shirt and a dark green hoodie thrown on top, but he still managed to look intimidating because of his strength and height. His blonde locks were messy as always, but his beard was neatly groomed, for a change, and Eren considered calling him out on it for a moment before erasing that thought. After staring into Eren’s eyes for a whole minute, he heavily sighed and averted his gaze by lowering his head and shaking it left and right, slowly, as if he wanted to emphasize just how disappointed he was.

“Ah, Eren… I really don’t know whether I should give you a raise since you’ve been working so hard lately, or fire you since you didn’t show up on time to open the shop, so all the guests had to wait to get their orders. Good thing the inspection came today, so I was around… oh, wait. That’s… not a good thing, is it?” his boss’ stern voice came into his ears and Eren hung his head, looking down at the desk that separated them and slightly nodding his head, “Jean had to run like the wind… of course, that’s no trouble to him. But still. He has proven to be far more reliable than you in the last couple of days. It’s not just today, little Eren. You’ve been acting aloof for a while now. Forgetting the orders and going back to ask again. Just cleaning extremely slowly. Mixing up the orders…”

Eren was silent as he stared at the small potted cactus in front of him, when suddenly, he heard a loud slam in front of him and he flinched as he looked up, seeing his boss sprawled in his chair and his legs crossed on top of the desk.

“Did an inexistent cat get your tongue? I’m merely stating the facts. It’s so weird not to hear you complain immediately, ma boy. Tell good old Zeke what the F your problem is”, he dropped the bossy demeanor and Eren rolled his eyes. He was relieved he wasn’t in trouble, but he didn’t like being treated differently just because he knew Zeke all his lifetime and because he was basically his role model ever since his father had abandoned him and his mother, putting his work before everything.

Eren just crossed his arms over his chest and decided to remain silent for the next ten second, staring down at the floor. Zeke’s mouth stretched out as he grabbed the potted cactus and threw it into Eren’s direction, so the younger man raised his hands in defense as the potted cactus would otherwise hit his head. His annoying boss was way too good at aiming.

“What the hell?!”

“Hah! You see what I did there? I used a different throwing technique.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Eren asked as a big, involuntary smile spread across his face and Zeke nodded in content as he finally managed to get the small idiot into his usual mood again, leaning back against the chair’s back and swinging himself left and right for a short while, “You asshole! I already got a bruise while running to this stupid ass job this morning! Don’t need another one…”

“Did you run into a fuckin’ tree or something?” Zeke indifferently asked and listened to the sound of silence for a moment before rolling his eyes behind his thick glasses, “Since when are you a tree hugger? Get outta my office before you’ll start trying to breathe life into all the papers lying around here”, he said and evilly chuckled when he saw the younger man’s eyes glaring at him, but he didn’t miss the slight discomfort Eren showed after hearing the word ‘paperwork’, and once Eren realized Zeke was waiting for an explanation, he heavily sighed and smiled, lowering his head while scratching the back of it. Zeke was too smart, and Eren hated it. He had always wondered why Zeke hadn’t pursued another career, but he only told him that he just didn’t want to make the same mistakes the ones before him did… whatever that meant.

“Well… I… kinda… got another job offer. It would solely revolve around paperwork and keeping schedules. I was thinking of turning it down, though…”

“Eren, you’re dumb as wood, and then people wonder why you came back”, he said as he leaned forward again, trying to look professional like he’d always do just to mess with people, “How the fuck did you make it through the first three years?”

“Well, I-“

“Rhetorical question, dumbass”, the know-it-all said and cupped his face for a brief moment, “No one cares. Look. Listen. Let me educate you on the subject of life, little buddy”, he said as he crossed his legs, leaning back again and gesturing with his hands while explaining, “Your mom is sick and needs medical treatment. You don’t have money and get just enough to survive for thirty one days a month, which leaves you seven days of extra wealth a year. So you can buy me a fucking pony for Christmas already. Now, if there was only a way to earn more… oh, wait. There’s someone offering me a job. Maybe I could ask that person whether I’d receive more…”

“Yeah, I know, I know…” Eren looked down and rolled up into a ball, “But the way that guy asked me was so random… and you’d-”

“I’d be proud you finally managed to find a better job than a waiter who does nothing except daydreaming how life could have been if things had gone in a different way, without cleaning tables and fighting with our horse. Heck, I’d be happy to get rid of you. You know how many capable people are waiting for this job slot to open? Many.”

* * *

Taking a long, slow sip from the hot black tea in his favorite mug, he closed his tired eyes to enjoy the brief moment of peace he had before he’d have to throw himself back to business, leaning back into the cream office chair. The brief moment stretched out to a minute of silence though, only listening to the silent clicks of the big white clock that tried to lull him to sleep every day, but would never succeed. Detective Levi didn’t mind, though. Sleeping never was an option. He appreciated the silent moments of peace, without having to stare at all the repetitive paperwork he had to work on before actually going on to investigate who had stolen the projects Grisha Yeager had worked on before his death. Dealing with this investigation a whole year after the incident… to anyone but to the team, this would seem like a completely useless approach, or at least suspicious, but he knew more than well why that was. Considering everyone else had already given up on the case as well, it was only the Survey Core’s mission to end this nonsense once and for all. Culprits and suspects narrowing and narrowing down in everybody’s minds, every inspector tried to delete these happenings from the past because all activity had been ceased anyways, but… not them. Of course it wasn’t them. Their lead detective, no matter how many times he’d fail, would never give up. And to be fair, detective Ackerman was completely on his side.

He loved challenges. The thrill of suddenly realizing something so obvious to the human mind that it hurt, that completing sensation of utter glory once a puzzle is completed, that’s why he even enlisted in the Core. It was by no means a surprise to anyone when the subject was brought up again after a whole year and Levi immediately spoke up, his usually dull eyes lighting up ever so slightly, just to announce that, yes, he was the one who wanted to solve this conundrum and let this weird case rest in peace for once. A day after, Erwin and him were already sitting in a taxi, discussing what to say to appeal to the other investigators once in town, but decided on just mentioning Levi. Sure enough, it worked. Everyone in this new office seemed to fall down to their knees when Levi would approach, and although he did appreciate the hard work of people scraping their knees for him, he couldn’t stand being the center of attention. The only way he wished to work was completely alone, and in the worst case scenarios, team up with detective Smith, but that was it. He wasn’t one to even leave his work place, most of the times. _He wasn’t one to even reveal his existence in the first place._ Every time he’d be forced to go into the open field, he knew something bad would happen- and to be honest, this mission he got himself into screamed that something will go wrong sooner or later, but he couldn’t let it go, he didn’t care what that would get him into. If he hadn’t seen what that Yeager had done a year ago, he wouldn’t believe all of the documents in his hands, but he _had_ , and that was reason enough not to give up.

And with that thought, his eyes went open again, knowing he’d be unable to withstand the images of the projects being flashed to him again. _Bluish human bodies cut into pieces and put on a side table left to slowly rot away in the cold, stench filling up the entire room. Spare organs in a large plastic bag. A living hybrid body that resembled his son’s in a way located in a large glass container filled with a strange liquid that was yet to identify. The scripts describing a superhuman that could regenerate body parts upon cutting them off like a turbellaria._

The detective shook his head and buried his nose into the paperwork again.

There was a way this plan of his could actually work; he could feel it in his bones that hurt from too much sitting. If only an opportunity presented itself without all the unnecessary action he’d have to take, it would be something he’d very much appreciate, but he knew life never wanted to hand him the good cards. There was no room for doubt in his brain anymore as well; this had to be it. This suspect of his… they had a fair share of defenses set up already, immediately upon somehow coming to the conclusion that the investigation was already turned towards them. How, he couldn’t possibly fathom. He had always thought of himself as a good actor. Or perhaps they always had precautions…? Who knew. He’d have to be wary of everyone, though. He was new in town and couldn’t possibly know with whom that person had ties with, and where _the work_ was situated. But who else to turn to than to the first person to once have been in direct contact with the man who tried to create those monstrosities himself? He hated scraping the bottom of the barrel.

_“But what else can you do…? If this really is that kind of situation… even taking the lowest kind of initiative can prove to be the biggest step. I might not be able to solve this case for another year, but… eventually, the clues will lead me to the wrongdoer and their apprehension. Who knows what they’re capable of…”_

Then, a loud knock came from the other side of the door and he sat straight up, clicking his tongue and narrowing his steel blue eyes.

_“No, I’m not gonna deal with this shit right now.”_

“Levi!” a loud, horribly obnoxious voice called his name and he turned back to his desk, hoping she didn’t hear him move in any way. The knock repeated a few times before she tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t go open since it was locked. Hearing her cry out in disappointment, a tiny spark of hope appeared inside of him, but it got extinguished when the woman on the other side of the door started shouldering the door or something, since it was shaking from the impact. Levi’s wide eyes remained focused on the paperwork he yet had to finish, but the loud noises didn’t seem like they would stop anytime soon.

_“How can a hag like her be the head of the investigators here…?”_

“Levi, I know you’re in there! You can’t run from Hange!” he heard her voice and pouted. Of course. He had forgotten she _sensed_ his presence somehow. Maybe she had installed a chip inside of him or something when he wasn’t looking. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to him at all.

“Go away”, he tiredly said, burying his face in his palms and slowly leaning forward to touch the papers with his forehead.

“No can do, Muffin! You’ve been working non-stop for three days straight and I’m not gonna leave you and you know it! Erwin himself told me to keep an eye on you.”

“Tell him to shave his fucking mind-controlling eyebrows before they’ll colonize another face and brainwash that face’s owner, then come again”, he mumbled and expected Hange not to hear him, but she obviously did when she burst into loud laughter that probably filled the whole hallway with obnoxious, repetitive and gross sounds. Once the laughter had ceased, the woman recomposed herself and loudly knocked on the door again.

“Levi, you know I won’t let go. I’ll be here all night long. You’ve been working for the entire day. You need to get out, for once. Enjoy the wind, the fresh air and… LEVI OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!” she said and started knocking again, so the man inside the office slowly stood up and dragged his feet across the room and lazily unlocked the door, looking up as the tall woman jumped ahead to meet his eyes.

“Huh…?” she said when she took a look around the man’s clean office, her eyes searching for something, but except from the perfectly clean white walls, the fluffy beige carpet with the small brown circles drawn on it, the brown cupboards on the other side, the pot with palm leaves in the far corner of the room, the small white loveseat right in front of her and the beige desk that had a stack of papers on it, she couldn’t see anything. Levi watched her face as her bespectacled eyes passed over his furniture, as if expecting something to just pop out of nowhere before she eyed him again, “Didn’t you say you’ve found an assistant?”

Levi’s frown stretched out as his eyes half-closed.

“Why isn’t he here?” she asked, even though her eyes told him she already knew everything.

“He’s… working.”

“At six p.m. Still working. From seven in the morning”, she indifferently said, her scornful frown turning into a smirk, “He refused the offer, huh? And you were so sure he wouldn’t be able to say no.”

“Tch”, was the only thing he was in the mood for saying since he really didn’t care about explaining his situation at the moment. No one else knew about his suspicions, and he was determined to keep it like that.

“Or are _you_ the one who’s reluctant…?” Hange silently said, mockery present somewhere inside of that suddenly menacing voice of hers, “Don’t tell me you haven’t even told him where to look for you… as far as I know, this is TOTALLY something you would do when you’re-“

“Whatever, Hange. I ain’t got time for this shit…” he muttered as he turned on his heel and fell back into his chair again, crossing his legs as he moved closer to his desk, realigning the papers in his hands before grabbing his pen and starting to write without actually touching the papers, “How many times have I already told you to leave me alone while I’m working? And you still keep busting in. What if I was doing something that you’d regret seeing? Like… me talking to the dirt that you leave on my spotless floor anytime you come in, you filthy bastard.”

The woman dressed in a white blouse and gray work pants walked towards the small man and leaned against the table to look down at his papers that he tried to cover by putting an elbow around them, “Ahh… Still on the Yeager incident, I see…”

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he quickly turned the stack of papers around, “Tch. There’s nothing else going on around town anyways. Other than that, I’m still pretty disturbed about what happened that day… I’ve never seen such… immoral things done to human bodies… There were instances of some really fucked up minds in our history, but creating artificial life so that it would serve as a test subject for whatever sick project that man had in his mind, it’s just…”

Hange silenced him with a hum of approval and a frown forming on her face. Levi went silent for a while.

“And now those projects have been stolen. Who knows what will happen now that they’re being continued. Who knows how many people will be required to die for this experiment. Who knows what those bastards will do if the project actually works. We can’t waste time. I hate loss of time”, he finished and twirled the pen in his fingers before passing his thin pale fingers through his soft hair and sighing.

“Levi. You know something, don’t you…?” she silently asked.

_“Childhood friends. Always know what’s up.”_

Levi kept looking at the edges of the sheets of paper he had in his hand before his face scrunched up. The man then took a brief look at the woman above him and narrowed his eyes before gingerly standing up and taking his satchel from the chair he had been sitting on. He then took the papers and stuffed them into the bag quickly before rushing towards the door that led out of his small office. He looked back to see the questioning look on Hange’s face before silently explaining: “I’m taking a little break for once. Make sure to lock the office if I’m not back until my shift ends”, he walked out, but stopped in his pace to look back at her once again, “And no word to Erwin. Or to anybody else, in fact.”

Upon exiting his office, he muttered something under his breath before looking ahead of himself again, seeing that he wasn’t alone. A young, strawberry blonde woman was walking towards him with that gentle smile of hers as she saw him looking back at her, nodding once to furthermore emphasize that she has seen him. Her short hair was untied, directly scrapping the dress code, jumping left and right as she walked, with her long light violet dress copying its movements, that sound of high heels echoing through the otherwise empty dark hallway.

_“Petra Ral. Helps around most of the times, but I heard she was able to solve a few cases of her own in the past. She hasn’t been too keen on investigating lately, though. Memorizing schedules and making black coffee is what her occupation is at the moment. The first time I saw her a week ago, she wore nothing less than the work outfit that’s being shoved into everyone’s face, with hair tied into a plait bun. Now, look at her. Already violating the rules just ‘cause she heard that there’s new detectives ‘round here. People’s motives seem to change so fucking quickly it makes me sick… Well, at least she decided to show up at the right time. Convenient.”_

“Petra,”, he called her as she passed by him and she looked back over her shoulder to smile at him, getting a little discouraged when his facial expression remained stoic as always, “set the discussed plan in motion. Go tell the rest of the team of it as well. I trust you to do your job effortlessly.”

The young woman stared for a while, but furrowed her brows and nodded in understanding as the stoic man in front of her slowly turned around with his hands in his pockets, beginning to walk towards the big glass slide door, “Yes, sir.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like reading Levi's thoughts, because there's a whole of them coming.


	3. A Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi is being an awkward marshmellow who desperately needs approval. Just an awkward conversaion. The chapter itself is just awkwardness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from the torture I called vacation, so here's a small chapter to get the gears turning a bit. It's high time they start 'cooperating', I think...?
> 
> ???

His big teal eyes closed for a moment as he stared at the front door, waiting for the last possible customers to enter. It was only five minutes until he had to close the coffee shop, and he was pretty much sure no one was coming anymore, but he still kept waiting for the glass door to open, that small shimmer of hope never leaving his chest. He felt his body going limp and his elbow slipped on the counter he was leaning against, but he managed to stir awake before he’d plop down. Wildly shaking his head, he looked at the clock before pouting and huffing.

“Whom am I kidding…?” he whispered to himself and smirked, reaching for the long brown coat hanging right next to him, “I had one chance and I ruined it. Whatever. I’ve got two jobs already, there’s no need to squeeze in another…” he put on his coat clumsily and leaped over the counter to reach the small, perfectly clear glass door and turned the small sign that said ‘CLOSED’ over, “Although… it’d be really nice not to have to…” he suddenly frowned, his fists clenching, _“Stop it, Eren. You think too much.”_

With that, he exited the shop and turned around, harshly slamming the door behind him which scared a nearby cat that ran away immediately. Eren looked around to see it leave as he resisted the urge to run after it and apologize before searching his pockets to find the key for the door.

“Oh. Were you about to close already?” a chilling voice came from behind him and the young man gasped as he looked around angrily, trying not to lose his temper in front of a potential customer. He found himself squinting his eyes to see the man that spoke better, but the person was engulfed in shadows as he was leaning against the wall of _Libertas_.

“Uh-huh”, Eren silently confirmed and reached for the lock again, but then looked back and widely smiled despite the fact that he was sure the man couldn’t see him, “I wouldn’t mind you ordering something though, sir. It’s still not time to close the café anyways, so… yeah. What do ya want?”

He heard a hum of approval and shivers ran up his spine. As the man said nothing at first and Eren just kept on staring, thinking that he had heard that voice somewhere before, the brunet suddenly burst into light laughter out of the tension that he felt growing between them. He couldn’t stand how the invisible man just stared at him, “Uh… lemme guess. Coffee.”

“No”, came the immediate, silent response, “green tea. No lemon, no sugar, no honey.”

“Oh”, Eren articulated before opening the door and holding it open so the customer could enter, but the man kept standing at the same spot, “Um… won’t you, like, enter? Or do you want to stand out here, in the cold…?”

The figure didn’t say anything for a few seconds, seemingly hesitating. Then, Eren heard a shuffling noise and soon saw a rather short, raven-haired man pass into the building, squeezing himself between Eren and the door, and the young brunet’s eyes went wide open as an involuntary smile stretched across his entire face after a few seconds before he managed to find the energy to run after the man that was heading to sit in the far corner of the coffee shop, as if there were no other places left.

“S-Sir! I didn’t recognize you at all…” Eren began and grabbed the short detective’s wrist, earning an angry glare from him, but the waiter didn’t even see Levi’s expression as he just dragged him towards the counter, ignoring the man’s attempts to escape the younger man’s grip, “Come, sit here! We’ve got something to discuss, yes? _Why else would you be here?”_

It didn’t take long for the two men to reach the counter and Eren finally removed his hand from the detective as he walked around the counter to grab a cup. Levi leaped at the bar stool in the meantime, awkwardly looking at his dangling feet before glaring back at the waiter’s back and shooting daggers into it, hoping he’d keel over after he was done questioning him. Calming himself and deciding not to threaten him just yet, he put the satchel at the stool to his right and screened through his documents, finding the one document he was looking for and neatly placing it at the top of the surprisingly clean counter, stroking its perfectly flat surface. Grabbing a pen from the pocket of his sleek black suit, he pressed the rear to his lips and propped himself against the counter as he waited for Eren to give him the tea he ordered.

“So… how come you decided to visit this shop again…?” Eren silently asked as he impatiently squeezed his fists, waiting for the tea to be done. Levi crooked his head to the side.

“I think we both know the answer to that question, mister Yeager,” came the silent response, “I’m here for you.”

He saw the man flinch, which made him frown.

“I wanted to ask a few questions regarding your past, brat. Don’t get your hopes up”, he said and rolled his eyes as Eren responded with a silent, almost nervous-sounding chuckle, “there’s just a few things I need to ask to fill in the missing details. Would you be kind enough to cooperate?”

After a few seconds, Eren turned around with a smile on his face and a cup of warm tea in his hand, nodding his head as he put the cup right in front of the raven-haired man whose eyes followed him as he bended over again. Eren then straightened again, eagerly but nervously smiling at the frowning man that was looking up at him with an annoyed expression. Levi heavily sighed, as if the time he’d have to spend with the brunet would be a waste. He finally removed the pen from his mouth and clicked it, opening the small stapled stack of papers and passing his pen across the sheet as if he couldn’t just have reached for the empty spot without the motion. He then looked back up with an indifferent expression on his face.

“So. The Yeager family, huh…?”

Eren opened his mouth and just let it be for a few seconds before nodding.

“How old were you when your father s-“ Levi stopped his question to eye the man who suddenly got his hands on a free stool beside Levi and lifted it over the counter to sit on it. Momentarily distracted, Levi waited for a few seconds for the man to settle down in his obtained bar stool before continuing, “uh… How old were you when your father started disappearing for longer periods of time?”

“I… For all I know, he’s been absent since… well, forever. I was always surprised when I’d see him come home, but that was rare. Since he’s a doctor, he’d usually work all day and all night, or so he told us. He was a very busy man, always mixing things up while rushing to work. We were never allowed to speak to him about his work when he was at home, too. It looked like home was the only place he’d be able to forget about it for a while, and just… drift off, I guess. He had always wanted me to become like him too, but I openly refused the offer since I can’t really stand being around sick people. I’m too weak for that”, he quietly chuckled and peeked at Levi’s fast, but neat handwriting as the detective was rushing to get everything on paper, “My dad was a strict man. Could be funny, but strict is the perfect word. He was… never really there for me, but I know he needed to stay at work to provide us a life and earn the money…” Eren suddenly stopped then and Levi glanced up at him again, sensing something was off.

“You know… I’m no therapist or anything. I’m not gonna judge you for the way you feel towards your old man.”

“Therapists don’t do that…” Eren muttered to himself, but didn’t realize Levi had apparently heard his whisper. The detective straightened in his seat and shuffled in it, refusing to be self-conscious of his unremarkable height. The young man was still smiling, but the smile was obviously false. His eyes were filled with an emotion Levi knew all too well.

Regret.

Betrayal.

Sighing to himself, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and passed his fingers through his hair to comb it, dropping the professional look as he slumped forward comfortably, leaning his weight at his arms that were placed on the counter. Eren’s gaze fell at the shorter man and Levi returned the look, looking at him from under his black bangs. The raven hummed as he tilted his head to the side, his gaze dropping to the younger’s red lips.

“Say therapist.”

“Wh-what?” Eren suddenly exclaimed, breaking eye contact and nervously grabbing a rag and starting to pretend he was cleaning the wooden surface in front of him, but Levi’s irritated scowl stopped his attempts of acting casually. He was pretty much sure Levi saw right through him, which is why he came here to him, of all places, for answers, knowing he could use that bad temper and that bluntly obvious crush of his.

“Don’t question. Just say it.”

“Uh…” Eren was dumbfounded over the weird order for a moment, still staring into sharp grayish eyes that judged him every time he’d see him, but after a few seconds he managed to get his brain cells to work again, “therapist”, he whispered.

“Think about what you’ve said right now”, the raven sighed, touching the white mug that displayed the red and white intertwined wings and tracing his index finger over them slowly. And suddenly Eren didn’t hate the logo that much anymore. Levi’s bored expression made it ten times nicer to watch, so Eren obviously wasn’t in the right state of mind to think of what the inspector was actually saying.

“I… uh… did I say something wrong…?” came the incredibly stupid response and Eren wondered why Levi hadn’t stood up from his stool yet and why he hadn’t stormed out. Once again, he wished he could punch himself in the guts. He’d do it later, definitely.

The man in front of him rolled his eyes as he pushed himself up, propping his forearms against the counter and crooking his head to the left and Eren felt like a horny teenager again all of a sudden. What the hell? Why was this guy so beautiful? Eren could honestly cry over such perfection.

“For a person who studied law, you’re pretty fucking dumb”, the detective dropped and Eren felt the corner of his lips twitch upwards despite the harsh tone of detective Ackerman’s voice. He silently chuckled and subconsciously reached his hand into the inside of his shirt, scratching his shoulder under it.

“I get that a lot, sir”, Eren responded, but his eyes didn’t seem pleased to say those words. It was pretty much obvious that he wasn’t the brightest individual out there and Levi was wondering how he managed to get three years into it, but decided to stop his thoughts from invading into territory he wasn’t supposed to invade.

“You know, I’m not getting younger, mister Yeager”, the silvery voice of the man in front of him reached his ears and pulled on his heartstrings. Eren tried to suppress a smirk forming on his face because of the sheer thought of someone actually flirting with him like this, although he knew his brain was just purposely getting it the wrong way. And when Levi clicked his tongue, Eren wanted to crawl under the counter and give him a lifelong discount on everything just so he would never mention it again, “Oi, what the hell are you smirking about?”

_“It’s kinda obvious you know what I’m smirking about._ N-Nothing, sir!” Eren stood from his stool and straightened to press a fist against his chest, both of them staring at the subconscious reaction he had for some reason, before the young waiter awkwardly scratched the back of his head and explained, “It just sounded… well, the way you express yourself is a little…”

Levi’s eyes narrowed. He was screwed.

“Are you mocking my ability to form coherent sentences, brat?” he scoffed and defensively crossed his arms over his small chest, “Well, not all of us are able to speak normally since they hadn’t had the chance to live in a world of happiness, rainbows and sunshine. If you plan on picking on it I highly suggest you don’t, because I’m clearly-“

“No, sir! I’d never. Sir”, Eren determinedly responded with a frown on his face and Levi’s tense shoulders relaxed before he heavily sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, whispering something inaudible that Eren made out to be Levi cursing his entire lineage and, honestly, he couldn’t care less because, yes, his family was really the weirdest mix of people out there.

“Just… fucking…” the man seemed exasperated, “imagine the word… therapist. And then just… try to make out another word.”

Eren stared at him for a few more seconds before putting a finger at his chin, contemplating the tired man’s words, “Therapist… therapist… the rapist…” Eren’s eyes widened at the realization and he narrowed his eyes at the man whose forehead was resting against the counter. He just stared down at him, not knowing what to do or feel at the moment. Was this guy serious?

“I, uh…” Eren stuttered after a few seconds, still dazed by the lame outcome of the supposed mystery, “I assume this was an attempt to… joke?”

The short man’s figure stayed limp, only his fingers clutched the sleeves of his coat.

“Don’t assume”, he sighed, straightening up again and looking into the waiter’s eyes with a mortified expression gracing his youthful face. The next part he spoke out seemed like he prepared for it the whole time and now it just wouldn’t fit anywhere so he had to add it, “when you do, you make an ass out of u and me.”

The awkward silence after that statement made them both look away.

After a minute, Eren silently chuckled as he looked back at the professional man staring at the papers he had in his small hands, “I did not picture you as the… talkative type, sir.”

“What do you mean?” Levi asked as he picked up the mug holding his lukewarm tea in that weird and intriguing way again and brought it to his mouth, gulping down what seemed already half of it in one take. As he put the mug down again, Eren stared at the glistening part of his lower lip and watched his mouth open and close as he continued, “I’m a real chatterbox. People can’t find a way to shut me up, no matter what and how they try.”

The lie was so obvious that it made Eren smile.

“Well… that’s good to know”, Eren stated, “since I’m no conversation starter myself, it’s good to hear someone else would do that for me. I’m more of an… ‘express yourself through body language’ kind of guy. My sentences suck and my grammar sounds like I had the words in my mouth for too long and began choking on them.”

“Very… graphic of you, thank you”, Levi sighed and visibly relaxed a bit, sitting up and catching the boy’s sight, “makes me wonder how you managed to get that far, though”, Levi said under his breath this time and the brunet seemingly heard his statement, since he stiffened all of a sudden, but he didn’t grace Levi with an explanation. He just smiled again after some time and sat back down, leaning forward a bit to catch the older man’s eyes. After just looking at each other for some time, Levi furrowed his eyebrows at the young man smiling at him and Eren repeated the eyebrow movement, earning a questioning glance from the inspector, but Eren’s wide smile afterwards explained his character and behavior perfectly.

“So… um”, Levi cleared his throat before taking the papers into his hands, “your father. How did it make you feel when you found out that he’d been conducting illegal research in favor of creating indestructible life?”

Eren’s eyes widened at the detective’s stoic face as he questioned him, but didn’t want to waste time unnecessarily, no matter how touchy the subject was. This was his chance, after all, and he won’t go repeating his previous mistakes. He nodded determinedly.

“Can’t say I was shocked”, he articulated and averted his gaze, fearing a response from the detective, “it was obvious he was hiding something big from me. He would always stay silent about his research and never wanted to talk about work. As I was saying, when I was little, I used to be silent about it and not question him at all, but once puberty hit… everything went to hell. I began questioning his careful word choices because I knew someone pretty smart myself who used to talk like that all the time, choosing only all the right words while not having to lie. And father never said anything to me anyways, so it wasn’t hard to guess that he really wasn’t stoked that I was there, alive, and seemed clearly disinterested in me personally. The only thing he questioned were my grades, which had been pretty good, so he decided: ‘yep, you gonna be the one to step into my footsteps’, but being the edgy kid I was, I straight-up refused his offer and… well, ever since then, we’d been arguing”, Eren stopped for a while, his eyesight dropping to the floor thoughtfully before he looked back at the detective that was looking at him with no emotion present whatsoever, “I thought it was my fault when he finally decided to leave us on our own; I was seventeen back then. Mom was desperate because her illness had just began acting up again and all, but father told us we’d receive support”, he stared into those pools of dull blue in front of him before furrowing his eyebrows, and once he saw the man’s reassuring gaze he continued, “Bullshit. He didn’t even call. He wasted all of that money on his research. We were left to struggle. Mom couldn’t work because her health was deteriorating and I was still stuck in school, luckily we had some savings… Never heard from him. Until mom called me, saying that he had done things she never wanted to discuss.”

Silence followed in after that. It was deep, but for some reason, felt needed and not awkward at all. The brunet was staring down at the floor again, fiddling with the rag in his hand and the raven’s eyes wandered across the small coffee shop. Once his head was twisted upwards, Eren stole a glance at his thick neck, catching sight of the thick veins there. He immediately dropped his gaze back down to the counter in front of him as the detective’s eyes went to search for his.

“Nice place”, he silently said and a small smile formed on Eren’s face.

 “Thanks.”

“I wasn’t complimenting you, dumbass. The interior’s the one to receive the praise.”

“Yeah, well, my friend runs it and honestly couldn’t give an F how this place looks. Good thing he’s got an artistic guy up his sleeve to try to perk this place up a bit. I mean. I suck at drawing, but decorating’s another thing. He used to laugh at me and my artistry in the past, but I guess he realized having me by his side was a huge benefit. We’ve known each other my entire life though, so I didn’t get anything special, but still… He _did_ help us with finances for some time, until I decided he should mind his own business which was most probably nothing. Guy lives in a trailer house and is having the time of his life with who knows what right now.”

Levi raised a brow at that.

“Is such a person capable of running a business?”

Eren smirked and looked around.

“Apparently.”

Levi hummed in response and scribbled something illegible at the margins of the paper that Eren didn’t really need to question. He was happy that he was just able to talk about his life for once without having to feel guilty, even though he spoke to a stranger.

_“But it’s a hot stranger.”_

_“The fuck brain, shut up.”_

_“Oh, look. He’s staring at you. Better say something smart. Unlike the last three thousand times someone actually wanted to hold a decent conversation with you. Go ahead, say something.”_

Eren stared at the small figure in front of him giving him a weird look.

“Oi, brat, you alright there? Spacing out like that… Have I pushed you too far? You could have stopped me, if you didn’t want to answer that much”, Levi deadpanned.

_“He wants to know if you’re alright._ _Dammit, Eren, reiß dich zusammen, Mann. Uh… am I alright? I should say good. No, okay. I’m okay. No, wait, good sounds better.”_

“Yeager?” the detective’s voice was laced with worry now and Eren’s brain finally shut down as he realized the man in front of him looked like he could freak and call an ambulance any moment.

“I’m gay”, he said and his cheeks immediately flushed after seeing the man in front of him get paler in the face and realizing what he said. Putting both hands over his mouth in an instant, he harshly shook his head, avoiding the raven-haired man’s stare, “I-I mean I didn’t mean it like that! I… my brain was busy thinking if I should answer I’m good or I’m okay, but it kinda got mixed together and it turned out… gay.”

Levi opened his mouth to say something, but Eren didn’t give him the chance to.

“I mean it didn’t turn out gay, our conversation! The word just… Ugh! Look, I’m really sorry, okay, I didn’t mean it, I’m… uh…” he could feel the heat already rushing towards his ears, “I’m… I’m not gay. Not that there would be anything bad in it! That’s… that’s a biological thing that happens with animals so it’s not really… Well… I’m gonna shut up now”, the mortified man stated and buried his face between his arms resting on the counter, hoping he’d dissolve into nothing. Feeling his entire body burning, he realized it could be entirely possible for him to reach body temperature that would prevent his organs from working, which would result in his death. That seemed like a good idea, but he still had his mother to live for, so death wasn’t an option.

He heard coins being placed in front of him before he could feel a rather small hand ruffle through his hair all of a sudden and he tensed up completely, waiting for it to finish passing through his messy locks before looking up at the man in front of him who was putting on his dark coat elegantly with his back facing Eren.

“Too bad”, the man sighed and looked at the flustered boy that was still leaning against the counter from over his shoulder, half-closing his eyes and aligning his collar. Feeling Eren’s eyes stabbing through his to search whether he meant it like it sounded it meant, the detective grabbed the bag next to him, shoved the papers into it and swiftly made his way towards the door without looking at the young man who stayed at the same position, staring at his back thirstily.

Eren could have sworn the raven was rocking his hips a bit more than usual while walking off, but maybe that was just his stupid brain doing the trick again. Snapping out of the inappropriate thoughts he found himself in, he suddenly started yelling after him as detective Ackerman opened the glass door and exited the small coffee shop.

“Wait!”

Eren jumped over the counter, grabbed his coat and keys again and ran after him the fastest he could, almost hitting the glass door as it closed on him, but he managed to open it just in time, “Wait up!” and lock the door quickly before running down the street to catch sight of the man slowly walking through the darkness over the empty road, hands in his pockets, blurry colorful lights from the buildings in the distance reflecting in the small puddles the petite man was visibly avoiding and his silky hair dancing with the slight breeze coming his way. Eren stopped for a moment before running after him the fastest he could, only to almost be run over by a car that happened to pass by just as he wanted to sprint so he could reach the inspector. The horn of the car seemed to catch the man’s interest as he swiftly turned around, looking over his shoulder again to see the younger man stand next to the road, still in shock of what had almost happened. But finally, he seemed to give in and wait for the boy to tell what he wished to tell. Eren didn’t move anymore, though, just stood there like frozen, his fervent eyes set on Levi’s cold ones.

“The job offer!” he shouted as another car passed between them, momentarily blocking Eren’s sight at Levi and scaring him the other might have left at that time, but as the car passed, Levi was still there, looking at him, only his expression was somewhat different. Eren’s heart clenched.

“What with it?” the man answered with another question and Eren had to strain himself to hear what Levi was saying.

“I decided to take it, sir!” Eren shouted, puffing his chest out determinedly, “I need all the money I can get! And I would be happy if I could”, he stopped as another car passed by, “I would be happy if I could work by your side! I’ll provide you with any information that is crucial! I can make tea, I can sort things, I can arrange meetings, I can clean…”

“I’ll think about it”, the raven cut him off and turned around again, sighing as he felt the youth’s eyes still boring into him. He was a headstrong youth, alright, Levi could give him that. His clumsiness was apparent, but that wasn’t what was stopping Levi from hiring the young man. His eyebrows furrowed for a second, his facial expression darkening. The young Yeager didn’t know anything. Still, he knew more than anybody else how much the boy needed the money. And what Levi wouldn’t do to make the situation easier for the poor man. It took him a while before he realized that the Yeager was still shouting after him, obviously knowing what he meant with that phrase.

“I work real hard, I assure you! And I’d come to the job in good times and in bad… ugh… in sickness and in health!”

“Sounds like a promise”, came the response from the man across the street and Eren’s face relaxed a bit, but he still seemed like an angry kid that really didn’t know when to stop, “tell you what, Yeager,”, Levi said as he turned his head to face him again, seeing the young man flinch, “give me some time to think. If I decide that it would be a good idea to hire you, I will come over to tell you that. If not, don’t bother talking to me again.”

Eren swallowed hard.

The younger man soon furrowed his brows again and nodded harshly as a sign of understanding, “I will await your response, sir! Whatever you do, I know it will be the correct choice of action!”

After that the boy ran the other side, away from the raven-haired man who turned around to watch him leave, letting the silence of the night engulf him and feeling the light breeze tangle his hair. His eyes were open fully for once as he watched the young man skip over puddles with his dirty, torn sneakers and the coat still held tightly under his arm instead of being worn. And when he finally disappeared into the fog that engulfed the small city the young man lived in, Levi released a shaky breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. His long pale fingers passed through his bangs where they stopped to hold onto his forehead. With the boy’s clear words still echoing in his head, he turned around and started walking off again, slowly this time, already thinking of the consequences that this might have. But his choice had been made right from the start. And Levi wasn’t one to back off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi trying to be funny is what live for I'm sorry he's terrible


	4. Glasses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who's back, guys. I've had trouble keeping up with my writing lately, as you could have deduced, considering that usually I post my work here as soon as possible. The state... still hasn't improved, actually, but this one was pre-written. I've... strayed away from Attack on Titan, I have to admit. The fandom was just... too much, so I had to distance myself for a bit. There's too many... falsities and no research being done into the subject at all, which also led to incorrect labeling (which I cannot condone, sorry). I don't want to speak of this like that, though. I'm having enough trouble keeping the burning hatred in my aching soul as it is.
> 
>  
> 
> On to more... nicer things, I tried reading more crime stories to help make things more interesting (I didn't succeed 'cause they all sucked though). Uh... I played the original Ace Attorney, if that helps. And, the worst of all, I finally managed to get my hands on Death Note. >>problem<<
> 
>  
> 
> Well, have this old ass document.

”Uh… Eren…? You’ve been staring into that direction for quite a while now… Is there something wrong?” he heard a low voice from his left and forced himself to look away from the table of his interest, reluctantly looking at the shorter man next to him. His big blue eyes were filled with concern and that helped him relax a bit, so he sighed as his brows furrowed. Averting his gaze back to the floor, he began fiddling with the apron wrapped around his waist. He let his best friend have a few seconds to look at the table Eren had previously been staring at, knowing that his overly smart brain would piece the information together pretty soon.

“Say… Do you know them?” Armin lowly asked and tapped Eren’s forearm to make him look back. Eren’s face as he faced Armin was somewhat bitter, but he smiled widely as soon as he saw a spark of acknowledgement shine in his big eyes. Eren swore it was the creepiest thing ever, when his best friend’s eyes would suddenly widen and a flame of acknowledgement would bring them to life.

“Uh… yeah, I saw them a few times before… Didn’t think they’d… uh, turn regulars any time soon. And didn’t think they’d come back a… day later too.”

“Well, you seem to be very interested”, Armin chuckled and Eren scoffed at him, returning his eyesight to the couple that sat in the middle of the small coffee shop, checking if they haven’t heard anything yet, “and distracted.”

“Yeah, well, you see the guy over there? The short one? He kinda offered me another job and yesterday he said he’d come back someday, maybe, when he’d make up his mind. And it seems strange to me that he’s already back…”

“Hmm”, Armin hummed and looked back between the two people sitting at the table across from each other, obviously engaged in an interesting conversation. The taller person was wearing tick glasses that were, for some reason, secured to her head with two straps of duct tape on each side. She had a big grin on her face as she reached for the man across her, tightly gripping his forearm that rested on the table. He seemed uncomfortable as a frown graced his appearance and was muttering something while not directly looking at her. They were both dressed casually, the woman wearing a white button-up and loose gray pants and the short man wearing an oversized white shirt that was at least two sizes too big and was exposing a shoulder that a black hoodie hid. He wore tight gray jeans that emphasized his muscular build.

“That’s not it.”

The blonde man started laughing as he saw Eren’s shocked expression before he turned to face him again, a light blush present on his face as he reassured Armin that this was definitely only about the job offer.

“I can’t believe you pull this right now. Man, I thought you were over teasing me, but no, you come home from the capital once every three months just to see me lose my shit over nothing? I thought you changed, Ar”, Eren stated as he angrily crossed his arms over his chest, pouting like the little child he always acted as. Armin tilted his head to the side to smile brightly at him.

“Negation and regression are two defense mechanisms people often use to hide the truth, Eren. Seriously though, what is up with you…? Haven’t seen you this worked up since… a long while. Are you in bad terms with one of them?”

The brunet considered using his own knowledge to fight against his best friend, but honestly, he couldn’t piece his mind together at the moment and only looked over to the table to see the taller person laughing loudly at detective Ackerman’s stoic face, tears running down her rosy cheeks. Whatever it was that the raven-haired man had told her, it must have been extremely funny. Remembering the way the raven man tried to joke the day before, he realized that his joke must have been terrible, whatever it was. Still, the woman across him laughed and laughed. It made him frown and he puffed his chest out as he looked into the distance without actually looking at anything. His heart was racing, and he knew he should stop acting like that, but couldn’t, for whatever reason. This emotion was strange, new to him, but somehow felt extremely familiar.

“Eren…? Shouldn’t you be doing your job?” Armin suddenly asked and he relaxed, unclenching his fists. He didn’t remember clenching them.

“Uh… no, we’ve got the horse… he’s ‘round here, somewhere…” Eren trailed off, scratching the back of his head and still not looking at anything in particular.

“Serving the customers is your job right now, and Jean can’t really answer my question ‘cause there’s no way you’d tell _him_ before me”, he proudly smiled as he saw his best friend’s frown only deepen, “and you haven’t answered my question yet. Are you in bad terms with one of them, Eren? Has that guy over there said something to hurt you? Has he threatened you?”

“Gosh, Armin, stop already!” he loudly said and realized everything went silent for a while, so he quickly looked around to see that everybody was staring at him. Once he met the raven-haired man’s soft gaze though, he quickly looked back at Armin, trying the best he could not to blush. Armin, however, wasn’t being a particularly big help since he had that devilish smirk on his face, the one his friend had whenever he figured something great out, purposely provoking Eren even further.

“Someone has to take care of you, considering you can’t take care of yourself”, Armin said with a shrug of his shoulders, that disgusting smug smile still on his face.

“I really don’t wanna deal with this at my workplace, Armin… But seriously, could you be even more annoying? I know you wanna get the truth out of me, but that doesn’t make it fair-”

“Look, they’re looking your way”, Armin indifferently stated and half-closed his eyes, watching the brunet quickly spin around to take in the gazes of the two people sitting at the table. The woman had grabbed the man’s hand and was now clenching it in her grasp tightly, pulling him closer and intently looking at the waiter that stared back at them. His brows furrowed in determination as he kept looking into the woman’s eyes challengingly, holding a one-sided staring contest that Eren was already losing.

“Run, Eren, run…” Armin whispered beside him and Eren didn’t have time to comment as his legs carried him towards the table where the detective and a woman sat at instinctively. As he was walking towards them while only being able to stare in between them, not blinking, he saw that the raven made an effort to get away from the woman with unbelievably zealous, reddish eyes and hair that was even messier than his, oily, put up in a ponytail. She seemingly relaxed too, sitting back comfortably and politely. But once he reached the table and offered a small smile and a nod of his head to greet them in false happiness, the woman to his left jumped at him to take him by his arms and pull him down to a seat, holding him there tightly to prevent him from escaping as he froze in place.

“YOU MUST BE EREN, RIGHT?!” she exclaimed, her cheeks getting rosy as she carefully studied the brunet’s face, her eyes darting around before she clasped his cheeks in both of her hands to tilt his head to the side, Eren giving out a huff of protest at the action, “Levi has told me soooo much about you. With that I mean I basically downloaded all of your information from the deep web and know everything about you anyways, but he still told me you had that particular… vibe. And told me exactly twelve sentences about you. That’s a thing! We usually can’t even reach three! …Oh well!”

She pushed his head roughly up, her hands travelling to his chin. The waiter gave a pleading look to the detective to his right, but he was looking through the glass door, seemingly more interested into random passersby than the brunet who was being assaulted by an odd stalker woman. She soon hummed in approval.

“Hmmm… Nice sharp jaw line…” she then pulled his head down again as the young man groaned, “…cute ears. Somewhat jug, but not too much… your nose looks cute too. Stubborn, am I right?”

“I… uh…” Eren didn’t have time to answer as the woman suddenly pulled him close, clashing their foreheads together to look him in the eyes. He wanted to break free from her hold because he really didn’t like the way she was invading his personal space, but her grip was too strong to break free.

“Ohoh… your eyes though… Your pupils are really large. Like, enormous. And the colors… Levi wasn’t lying at all…”

“Oi, Four eyes. Stop harassing the kid. You’ll scare him off”, the man next to him said and once Eren was finally released, he fell back to meet the chair waiting there for him, wanting to thank the man for saving him, but not saying anything as he heard the woman next to him let out a long, exasperated sigh before she lowly whined. Eren watched them both as they just stared at each other, as if communicating by just looking into each other’s eyes before seeing the woman smile widely and turn her head towards him.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. But I really thought Levi here just made you up. Considering his past, I don’t doubt that he _would_ be able to fake all of those documents and events…” Levi shot her a warning look and Eren looked at her to ask, but she didn’t give him an opportunity to and just continued, “And someone had to check if you’re good enough for this guy’s standards, so, yeah. Hello. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced… Levi”, she shot him a glare as he just watched the exchange happening beside him, seemingly unfazed, “I’m doctor Hange Zoe, Levi’s mate.”

Eren had to take a few seconds to take it all in before his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Mate…?”

“Partner”, Levi added and the confused youth looked at him. He looked indifferent about everything and anything as usual.

“His wife”, she added and Eren grinned as he glanced between the zealous doctor and the stoic detective.

“…What…?” Eren articulated and Levi sighed.

“Stop screwing with him”, Levi remarked before looking back at the fidgeting waiter, the expression of indifference not helping Eren’s case at all, “We’re married to our jobs.”

Then both of them proceeded to stare at Eren as he still nervously look at each of them, not knowing what to think or say, and they didn’t do anything to make themselves clearer. The only thing he could think about them was that they were both really, _really_ weird. Maybe their whole institution was a bunch of weirdos glued together.

If that was the case, Eren truly _did_ belong there.

“…Wie jetzt…?” he asked silently, doubting that they understood him. Considering they just looked at each other and shrugged, he figured he was right. Seeing that their conversation was dying off, Eren sat up straight again and smiled at the detective next to him the brightest he could, earning nothing but the usual glare from him.

“I see you ordered tea again, sir. You seem to like it?”

Levi watched the young man’s pure expression for a while before lowering his tense shoulders and audibly sighing. His dull, threatening eyes softened as he silently spoke: “Well… yes, actually. I always had a strong prefer-“

“He is OBSESSED with tea, I tell you. Everyone else drinks coffee, but no, not this guy. He even carries tea bags in his pockets sometimes! Wanna see?!”

“Um, there’s no need to, uh…”

He stopped when the woman grabbed the raven-haired man by the sleeve and tried to pull him closer to reach her hands into his pockets, but the small man struggled to break free from her strong grip, his disinterested eyes narrowing as he tried to fend her off.

“What the hell, Hange? Get your greasy hands off my clothes or I’ll punch a hole into your fucking face”, he said in his usual tone, and someone could say that he was just joking, but the fact that his eyebrows lowered to an intimidating level told otherwise. Once he pushed her chair away with a kick of his strong leg, having almost caused her to fall down, she broke into loud laughter once again.

“He also has a foul mouth. For a clean freak like him, it’s a real wonder he hasn’t rinsed his mouth just yet.”

“’Cause the taste of your bullshit keeps being spit into my mouth day after day, colleague. I don’t think it’d make a difference.”

“See? That’s what I mean. Can you imagine having to work with him the whole weekend? That’s why he has no friends to begin with”, she said and threw him a quick glance accompanied by a smirk before returning her sight to the tall young man who was just staring between the two of them, seeing the way Hange was anticipating his answer and how the detective was seemingly getting more and more tense with every passing second. He honestly looked like he’d turn into a ball of oversized clothes and muscles if he kept up slumping.

“I… I think he has the right to express himself the way he wants to, Miss”, Eren muttered and saw the zealous woman calm down for a brief moment, her smirk being replaced with a gentle smile. She seemed pleased with the answer.

“I think so too”, she said after some time and started talking about something neither of the men at the table heard. Eren, instead of listening to her important talk about the antioxidants that are found in tea, returned his sight to the detective who was fumbling with the zipper of his hoodie. His face looked focused as he looked at the zipper from all sides, his lips parted and his soft gaze fixed at his small, thin, sinewy hands. His brows were furrowed and Eren’s sight was stuck at the older man’s snub nose. A strand of jet black hair was partly covering his sight. He looked small and fragile this time, when he didn’t have his work uniform on, although he was obviously buff. The oversized clothes fit him perfectly and he was seemingly still sinking into himself, curling up into a ball of awkwardness and vulnerability, if not more than before. Without thinking, Eren reached the man’s shoe with his own, pressing it down gently, but firmly, as if to see whether Levi would push him away or tolerate him.

It turned out the case was the latter when Levi slowly raised his head to look at him, not saying anything but just staring into his eyes like he always did. Eren smiled.

“Are you two plotting my murder or something?” Hange’s voice soon interrupted them and Eren lightly chuckled as he felt a blush spreading across his face, but he didn’t remove the foot from the detective’s. As Eren faced her, her expression looked plain scary, but once she saw Eren’s confusion and shyness creeping up on him, she sweetly smiled again, crooking her head to the left quickly, “Or should I leave you two alone for some time? You seem to have important business to discuss, and my beautiful presence is obviously taking a toll on you. Oh, I could devour you~” she grabbed the young man by the shoulders again, only to be kicked in the shin by the detective that say across her. She shot him a threatening glare, as if challenging him for the prey in her hands.

“Fuck off”, the man simply stated, getting enamored by the tea in his hands once again, looking at it intently, as if checking if something had been put in. Both of the man’s actions made Eren frown at him, and Levi returned his gaze to the man as he seemingly saw him. And just like that, all of Eren’s aggression melted away and left him numb, his eyes widening and a lump forming in his throat.

“Ahhh… Levi, you never let me play with them…” she sighed as her reddish, crazy eyes disappeared behind the harsh light that was reflected by her glasses, making her look even more scary as she slowly stood up, arms dangling as she slumped forward, ”but if you leave him unattended for even one second, you know my hands will be all over him.”

“You make it sound even weirder than it is, Glasses”, he said as he took a long sip of his tea, knowing that they’d both be kept shut until he finished, “Now leave us be. As you’ve said yourself, we have important matters to discuss and wish to be left alone.”

She was smirking at him for what seemed like an eternity to Eren and the brunet thought she wouldn’t leave, but once she exploded into loud laughter with tears streaming down her cheeks, he slid closer to the detective who only tensed even further. Grabbing her stomach as she looked at them again, she managed to articulate: “Oh, you have no idea, Muffin”, she calmed down immediately after that, standing up straight and pointing at the counter with her thumb, “If you need me, I’ll be over at the counter, squeezing people for free drinks with my card.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed at that.

“Don’t get wasted like last time”, he indifferently stated and took another sip of his black tea.

“I will!” she shouted before hurrying to her next location, pushing the blond that had been watching their conversation unfold aside and waving her hand to get the attention of the other waiter that was slacking off somewhere before turning her head to the blond and assaulting him with friendly apologies and gestures. Eren stared at her form for a while before returning his sight to the man beside him who loudly sighed, massaging the temples of his head as if he had gotten a headache by just being in her presence. Or was it his? Or was the detective angry with anyone who’d come to his side?

“I’m… sorry you had to witness my comrade. She’s… to put it bluntly… batshit crazy.”

The teal-eyed brunet stared at the detective’s averted gaze for a while before lightly chuckling.

“She seems nice, though…”

“Nice?” the detective quickly turned his head towards him, making the young waiter flinch in his seat as he saw the darkened expression of his face. They made a great combination; they were both scary as hell when it came to their stares that petrified every fiber of his, “I mean, if you consider dissecting human flesh with a passion for a job being safe for other people and being ‘nice’, I guess you could say that.”

The dumfounded brunet awkwardly smiled.

“Well, I said ‘seems’ nice. Except for threatening to harm me, that is.”

The detective beside him watched his expression for a while before humming and leaning back into his seat, slumping into it comfortably and crossing his muscular legs as he brought the tea cup to his mouth again, collecting the rest of the liquid into his mouth before putting the empty cup down once again, leaning back and looking somewhere into the distance as Eren kept staring, his gaze travelling from his eyes to his thighs and back.

“Oi, mister Yeager…” the man purred before shooting a sideway glance to him, “you enjoy closeness that much?”

“Huh?” Eren nearly jumped out of his skin on the comment he heard, his eyes still stuck to the detective’s stupidly cute snub nose as it was proudly raised up. The man then shuffled in his seat to sit back neatly, cocking his head to the side.

“Leg, Yeager”, he indifferently stated and Eren let out a small whine as he immediately removed his foot from the detective’s, the detective sighing in annoyance, “I have no idea why you’d pull a stunt like that, but okay, I guess.”

“You don’t have your usual uniform on, sir,”, Eren looked down, “I guess that peaked my interest.”

Levi just looked at him, staring at him for what seemed like an eternity of judging. The man’s eyes then wandered all over the younger man as if he had to have him fully scrutinized before making sure he wasn’t a threat to him in any way. After he was done, his cold, sharp eyes met Eren’s once again and the young man gulped.

“That’s because I’m not here to discuss work”, he simply stated while not averting his gaze from the waiter’s. Eren blinked a few times in confusion, so the older man rolled his eyes and passed his hand through his soft, charcoal black locks before continuing, “My mind has been set from the day that I had seen you. Don’t you remember anything? That day I even made an effort to hold a conversation with you in that filthy bathroom this café has to offer. Thought that might display my eagerness to have you on board.”

“Wh-why would you… Why, I’m just… I’m practically-“

“As I’ve said already”, the detective narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side once again, eyeing the younger man under his bangs that fell at the side of his face, “as soon as I see a person’s eyes, I can tell who they are. How they are, and what they want. It’s all written in there, and right now…” the detective came closer to Eren’s face and his heart started pounding nervously again, “…they’re… telling me an interesting story. One that is usually ignored, but your eyes tell another reason.”

The scent of freshly washed clothes and tea made Eren’s head go numb as the detective leaned in even closer. Eren wasn’t sure if he was still a meter away or an inch apart from him, but he was sure he wanted to close that space between them. Still, the aroma that had risen around him and wrapped his heart in an ache that made it bleed made him just sit there and wait to see what the detective was planning.

“And… th-that reason…? Is?” Eren articulated, the shaky and weak voice he released making him blush in embarrassment. The seemingly unfazed short man lingered for a while before reaching forward abruptly, the chair screeching from the impact, so that Eren’s gaze was once again stuck to his small nose. The man’s hands fell to the chair Eren sat on, just next to his thighs, creeping closer when he heard the younger man’s breath shake, the hot air touching his lips. Leaning closer, the raven made his way to Eren’s ear, his hands latching onto his arms longingly, as if he was touch-starved – no - as if it was a common thing for him.

“Wh-what are you doing, sir?” Eren whispered and the detective half-closed his eyes, a shuddering breath escaping his mouth as well as it grazed Eren’s earlobe and made the man beneath him shiver. The detective suddenly stopped frozen and just stared ahead for a while, looking at Hange who was drinking from a bottle thirstily and ignoring them completely, and the blond next to her flailing his arms around to try to prevent her from dying of alcohol overdose. There were a few curious gazes around him though, so he made up his mind, easing the death grip he had on the man’s arms.

“What… am I doing?” the man asked and Eren’s fast beating heart dropped at his indifferent voice, his temperature suddenly falling from sky-high to what felt like an absolute zero. Mentally slapping himself, he repositioned himself in his seat to allow the other man to do the same, but his pale hands hadn’t left Eren’s clothes yet. The detective came into his face, only a few inches apart. His cold expression turned bitter as he looked away again in a few seconds, “I am… testing your capabilities of restraining yourself from lust, of course”, he angrily looked at the brunet, as if he had initiated the action, but there was nothing but the usual stoicism in his voice, “I _see_ the way you look at me, you know. Not gay, my ass”, he muttered and finally removed his hands from him, crossing them over his broad chest as he fell back into his chair, “You could try to hide it.”

“Wh-what?! I don’t-“ Eren yelled and could immediately feel people staring at him from all sides.

“Don’t even try to fuck with me, mister Yeager. As I’ve said, your eyes give everything away. I suggest you get over your celebrity crush before actually coming to work.”

“It’s- it’s not a crush, you were literally the one trying to topple me!” Eren exclaimed, anger flaring up in his eyes as his brows furrowed. The detective’s eyes shone in a particular way as he saw the beast that was surfacing in the waiter’s eyes and he would have complimented him on it if the waiter wasn’t so keen on trying to put the blame on him, instead of accepting that it was just a way of testing him.

“Oh? First work day and you’re already disrespecting your new boss?” he averted his eyes in a disinterested manner, humming, “Well, that puts the fire out.”

“What?!” Eren exclaimed beside him, “This isn’t my first work day! I’m still working here, you know?”

Levi hummed as he eyed him from the side again, wiggling in his seat and noticing the way Eren’s eyes immediately dropped to watch his movement. He scowled at the young man, not even trying to peek at him, but downright absorbing his movement.

“As far as I know, you don’t have problems with working multiple jobs at a time… And practically, you were working for me ever since I had chosen you. Which would mean you missed a total of… five days of work. I’m taking that into consideration of your payment too…”

Eren’s eyes widened as he bore his teeth at his new boss.

“You can’t be serious!”

Levi showed a little smirk as he cocked his head to the side, saying: “Try me.”

…

“Is it a common occurrence that he loses it so easily?” the woman with the oily, reddish-brown hair asked, sipping from the third bottle as she leaned against the counter with her shoulders holding her from behind, “Or is he just spoiled?”

Armin let out a quite chuckle as he watched his best friend argue with his, apparently, new boss.

“There’s nothing that can change his mind and goals as far as I know. Hot-tempered isn’t even close to describing Eren’s personality, but it’s there, somewhere.”

The woman hummed as a wide smirk appeared on her face, “That’s bound to get interesting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to searching for inspiration lol

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Every little gesture here is appreciated and taken into considertaion.


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